Aleksandra Koźlak

The article discusses the changes in the competition strategies of entities in the air transport market in recent decades. The subject of the analysis is cooperation between air carriers and between carriers and airports. The aim of this article is to prove that many changes which have taken place in the supply of air transport services were a response to globalization. Such a change is especially visible in the tendency to consolidate the supply side of the air transport market or in the increasing importance of cooperative competition strategy. In a global competition, the dominant position in the market of passenger air transport can be gained only by entities able to implement suitable strategies of competition. The article argues that such a strategy must allow for achieving a competitive advantage, a higher level of economic efficiency and effective takeover of demand. This, in turn, is enabled by entering strategic alliances and undertaking cooperative agreements with other entities in the air transport market.

The paper examines the size and structure of global trade in services and their share in Poland’s balance of payments. Particular attention was paid to export and import of transport services. The main purpose of the paper was to prove the importance of transport services in Polish foreign trade. Statistical data on Polish and world trade were analysed to achieve this goal. In addition, descriptive methods (analysis of literature) as well as general research methods and principles of scientific reasoning were used. The conducted research allowed to state that both in world trade and in Polish foreign trade the share of services increases, while the share of services in the Polish foreign trade turnover is by a few percent lower than the world average. It was also indicated that, in contrast to the trends in world trade, there was an increase in export and import of transport services in Poland. The balance of transport services in the Polish balance of payments is positive. The surplus of export over the import of road transport services constitutes a major contribution to the good result. This proves that Polish road transport is highly competitive.

Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) is an innovative concept that makes a significant contribution to transport integration. This concept has developed following the emergence of new types of transport services and technological advances, in particular ICT and mobile technology. MaaS has the potential to improve the use of assets and contributes to a reduction in the number of passenger cars in congested cities. The aim of the article is to synthesise the current state of knowledge on the Mobility-as-a-Service concept, to assess the degree of the implementation of MaaS systems in Europe, to discuss the results of research on the benefits of using these solutions, as well as to show the role of MaaS in transport integration. The research methodology includes a literature review and a deductive research method. The research has shown that any consensus has been reached on the scope of the MaaS system, although the suggestion is that they should include solutions that have at least an integrated module for booking services and payments, in addition to the possibility of planning a journey by different transport means. Currently there are neither sufficient data on the costs and benefits of MaaS systems, nor comprehensive analyses how they affect travel patterns and user behaviour. However, the first fragmented studies of MaaS pilot implementations confirm the existence of benefits for different stakeholder groups. The analysis of levels and the scope of the integration in MaaS systems confirmed that they contribute to the deepening of the integration of transport services. The results of the research presented in this article can be a reason for in-depth research into the essence and effects of Mobility-as-a-Service applications.